Landstalker

A action-adventure RPG on the Sega Genesis, in the same vein as The Legend of Zelda, from Climax Entertainment (which co-developed Shining in the Darkness and the first Shining Force with Camelot Software Planning). Released in the US during 1993 ('92 in Japan) and although it wasn't what anyone would call a smashing success, it is fondly remembered and gained a decent sized cult following.

The basis of the story rounds out like this: you are Nigel, a masterful treasure hunting (some would say, 'thief') elf who is given information about a great treasure buried under an island from a fairy - who although, doesn't necessarily know where they are on the island knows that they have to be there, and a after a little convincing - the two buddy up and begin the quest.
Refreshingly ...the story doesn't have anything to do saving the world; it stays on track entirely about finding the treasure first and foremost. Though accusations are hurled at The Rival that he wants the treasure to finance a war.

During said quest, you'll come across all manner of classic fantasy creatures...ranging from winged demons, talking...bears?, more fairies, not-so-evil-Wizards, skeletons, orcs, etc. The big difference for the time was the perspective; Landstalker plays out entirely in an isometric view (think of the basic viewpoint for most Tactical RPG's and you'll get the idea). The novelty of it is that it makes the core aspect of puzzle solving rather difficult at various times since you can't alter the angle at which you see the world. This would also make for some extremely punishing platforming...as Nigel doesn't leave a shadow (landing jumps at later sequences becomes mostly trial and error). As noted, the biggest chunk of this game is in a myriad of puzzles to solve in the dungeons, ranging from laughably easy to mind-breakingly difficult; the smoothness of control however still made gameplay quite fun. Oh, and the music isn't something to overlook either - this game had plenty of addicting songs.

Goldfish Poop Gang: Kayla and her two goons...they get into progressively crappier situations for their trouble.

Guide Dang It: Happens a lot throughout the game, but a particularly jarring example occurs when trying to get into the second dungeon. The item you need to access it is found in a totally nondescript house and blends in perfectly among all the background objects. You're given a vague hint as to what it is from one of the people standing outside the dungeon, but it's still easily missed.

The worst one is in the fourth town. There is exactly one vague hint on how you are to progress through the game: a lady in the church who praises Duke Mercator for "walking through town and personally speaking to each and every one of us."

Heroes Prefer Swords: Nigel uses only swords, nothing else - you get a handful of them throughout the game; each one better than the last.

Isometric Projection: One of the big features that set this game apart from other action-adventure games of the time. ...however, the lack of shadows made this problematic for jumping sequences. Not to mention the rather, shall we say, rudimentary control system; the Genesis controller had no diagonal inputs, so to move northwest, the player has to hit both "left" and "up". This is particularly annoying on emulators if you play on keyboard.